roogles
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- Dec 13, 2011
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A zippo tale
I believe I've mentioned in other posts that in 2009 I had a great uncle pass away who was a life-long pipe smoker. We didn't see much of each other, or really spend much QT together, and I didn't really get into pipe smoking until after his passing…
My father (his nephew) moved into his house in the months following his death, and as time passed boxes of "stuff" that Dad thought I might find interesting or want to pick through was passed on to me.
Among this "stuff" were about half-a-dozen random Dr. Grabows, mostly in states of disrepair, and seven zippo lighters which were as close to destroyed as any I've seen.
Along with the 10 whole lighters were three more inserts, which were corroded, nasty, and falling apart at the seams.
Of the lighters which were whole, three had caps that were busted off, one wouldn't open at all until I pried the cap off with pliers. All were corroded, nasty, and junked.
Taking a gamble earlier this month, I sent an email off to Zippo with a photo of the 10 asking if there was anything they could do. A nice email back from someone named Tammy said that if they could not be repaired, they would be replaced at no cost to me, so please put them in a box and send them off.
This morning (three weeks later) I got a box in the mail from Bradford, PA.
I have to say gentlemen, I am astounded!
All 7 of the lighters with that were "whole" have been cleaned, have new hinges, new inserts, and are in amazing shape - while still preserving the character that is the result of years of being carted around in the pocket of my Uncle's Levi's.
the three junked inserts were replaced with brand new ones.
The only cost to me in this whole thing was the $4.25 for my original posting them out to Bradford three weeks ago!
Customer Service at it's finest! Kudos to Zippo!
I imagine that I am in good shape lighter-wise for the rest of my life.
I believe I've mentioned in other posts that in 2009 I had a great uncle pass away who was a life-long pipe smoker. We didn't see much of each other, or really spend much QT together, and I didn't really get into pipe smoking until after his passing…
My father (his nephew) moved into his house in the months following his death, and as time passed boxes of "stuff" that Dad thought I might find interesting or want to pick through was passed on to me.
Among this "stuff" were about half-a-dozen random Dr. Grabows, mostly in states of disrepair, and seven zippo lighters which were as close to destroyed as any I've seen.
Along with the 10 whole lighters were three more inserts, which were corroded, nasty, and falling apart at the seams.
Of the lighters which were whole, three had caps that were busted off, one wouldn't open at all until I pried the cap off with pliers. All were corroded, nasty, and junked.
Taking a gamble earlier this month, I sent an email off to Zippo with a photo of the 10 asking if there was anything they could do. A nice email back from someone named Tammy said that if they could not be repaired, they would be replaced at no cost to me, so please put them in a box and send them off.
This morning (three weeks later) I got a box in the mail from Bradford, PA.
I have to say gentlemen, I am astounded!
All 7 of the lighters with that were "whole" have been cleaned, have new hinges, new inserts, and are in amazing shape - while still preserving the character that is the result of years of being carted around in the pocket of my Uncle's Levi's.
the three junked inserts were replaced with brand new ones.
The only cost to me in this whole thing was the $4.25 for my original posting them out to Bradford three weeks ago!
Customer Service at it's finest! Kudos to Zippo!
I imagine that I am in good shape lighter-wise for the rest of my life.